Imitation bone and the like



June 1935- M. B. SALISBURY IMITATION BONE AND THE L'iKE Filed Dec. 14, 1934 Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IMITATION BONE THE LIKE Moses B. Salisbury, Chicago, Ill. Application December 14, 1934, Serial No. 757,481 7 Claims. (01. 4s s7)' My invention relates to toys having sound producing mechanism therein and is more particularly directed toward the provision of a toy for dogs wherein a flexible body such as rubber is provided with means in the interior thereof adapted upon the flexing of the body to produce sound.

More specifically it is the purpose of this invention to provide an article of this character wherein an elongated rubber body of a shape somewhat imitating a bone is provided with means in the interior thereof adapted to produce a sound in imitation of the cracking of the bone when the flexible body is flexed or distorted by the dog biting upon it.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein the preferred form of the invention is shown. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing and description are illustrative only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view partly in section through a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section oi. a part of the sound device.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the device consists essentially of a hollow elongated body 5 which is preferably constructed of a tough rubber material of a substantial thickness. For example, I have found that one-fourth inch stock with high rubber content is very satisfactory.

This body 5 is hollow in the interior as indicated at 6 to provide a sound chamber that is open to the exterior of the body through the ends thereof at I and 8. This sound chamber and the openings may be large or small to vary the loudness of the sound and may in certain instances be entirely dispensed with.

Within the hollow portion 6, I mount a suitable sound producing device 9 which is operable by the flexing of the body 5 either by a straight depression at some particular point or by bending of the body as will be hereinafter more clearly described.

The sound producing device 9 consists of a pair of elongated plates Ill and II which are preferably constructed of some spring material such as spring steel and are indented as indicated at I2,

i3, I4, and I 5. The indentations are formed by punching the spring strips so as to produce the distorted formation illustrated in the drawing. The effect of this punching is to make depressions in the material which, when pressure is applied 5 thereto, will snap from one side of the strip to the other to produce a noise within the hollow chamber 6.

These strips extend into the rubber at l6 and I! so as to be held firmly in place. Preferably, 10 they are molded right in the rubber. The ends of the strips are rounded as indicated to prevent their cutting the rubber. To further protect the rubber from being cut by the metal strips, I may wrap them with a protective layer of material i8 15 which may be a rubber impregnated fabric.

I have shown two of these strips, Ill and II, although it is not necessary to provide more than one to obtain the sound effect since these strips operate either singly or in multiple so that any 20 desired number may be used. I flnd, however, that the best efiect is obtained by utilizing two strips with the indentations thereof directed oppositely so that a pressure applied on one side will cause the indentation projecting on that side 5 to snap outwardly while, if only one strip were provided, the pressure would have to be applied in the opposite direction.

This is clearly evident if one considers the condition of these indentations l2 and I3 as shown 30 in Fig. 2. The action upon pressure being applied, for example to indentation I2, is to cause the central portion of the indentation to assume the curved position by snapping over toward the indentation l3. Now, if the pressure 35 were applied against the indentation l3, it would also be pushed toward the indentation I2 and tend to assume the curved position in opposition to that of the indentation l2. The springiness of the material causes this changing position 40 to take place with a snap that produces a cracking or popping sound within the hollow chamber 6. If indentation I! has already been pushed in and did not happen to spring back to its original position, which it will sometimes do, then, 45 when the indentation l3 was pushed in, it would force indentation l2 to snap back to the original position so as to be ready for further pressure on that side. I find that these indentations when arranged oppositely, as shown in Fig. 2, will snap 50 back and forth somewhere along the line when either side of the body 5 is pressed inwardly or when the body is bent in one direction or the other.

The ends of the imitation bone may be'formed 5- up as nearly as possible to simulate the bone shape, and the openings 1 and 8 are quite small in diameter so as to avoid any thin portions that might be readily torn by the dog.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and advantages of this device will be clear to those skilled in this art.

Having thus described one specific form of the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A sound producing toy of the character described comprising an elongated rubber body having an opening therein from end to end, an elongated spring strip within said body having indentations formed therein adapted to be snapped back and forth by flexing the wall of said body to produce sound, said body having a pair of opposed grooves in the interior thereof in which the edges of said strip are seated.

2. An imitation bone for dogs and the like comprising an elongated rubber body having enlarged ends and having an opening therethrough from end to end, together with a sound producing device seated in said opening and spaced from the ends of the body, said sound producing device being operable by distortion of the body wall, said sound producing device comprising a spring metal strip having indentations formed therein at spaced points.

3. An imitation bone for dogs and the like comprising an elongated rubber body having enlarged ends and having an opening therethrough from end to end, together with a sound producing device seated in said opening and spaced from the ends of the body, said sound producing device being operable by distortion of the body wall, said sound producing device comprising a spring metal strip having its side edges embedded in the rubber and having indentations formed therein at spaced points.

4. An imitation bone for dogs and the like may be snapped back and forth by flexing said body.

5. A sound producing toy of the character described comprising a body of rubber and a sound producing device therein operable to produce sound when the rubber body is flexed by force applied to the exterior thereof, said sound device comprising thin spring metal having indentations therein which may be snapped back and forth by distortion of said device.

6. A sound producing toy oi the character described comprising a body 01' rubberand a sound producing device therein operable to produce sound when the rubber body is flexed by force applied to the exterior thereof, said sound device comprising thin spring metal having indentations therein which may be snapped back and forth by distortion of said device, and a protecting sheath of fabric interposed between the metal and the rubber.

7. A sound producing toy of the character described comprising an elongated rubber body having an opening therethrough from end to end, an elongated spring strip within said body having indentations formed therein adapted to be snapped back and forth by flexing the wall of said body to produce sound, the said strip having its edges seated in the rubber to hold it in position, and a protecting sheath of fabric over said edges to prevent their cutting the rubber.

MOSES B. SALISBURY. 

